The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was 0.50 higher at 485.24, alongside a 0.68 per cent increase for the German Dax to 16,945.48
European markets rallied on Wednesday as the eurozone avoided a technical recession and posted better-than-expected industrial production figures.
Some analysts also believed that investors were re-assessing their pessimism around the inflation outlook in the US from the day before.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was 0.50 higher at 485.24, alongside a 0.68 per cent increase for the German Dax to 16,945.48.
All the other main regional indices were also higher with the exception of Spain’s Ibex 35, which edged lower by 0.09 per cent to 9,916.60.
Those hoping for a second day of heavy losses for stocks have been disappointed. Dip buyers have come in following yesterday’s decline in the wake of US inflation data, mounting a holding action that is preventing any further downside for the time being, said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
Bullish hopes rest in the view that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to shift position after one reading, he added.
Euro area Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 0 per cent in the last quarter of 2023, in accordance with the flash reading, statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday, which also confirmed that output dropped 0.1 per cent in the previous three months.
Two quarters of successive declines in output are usually counted as a technical recession.
Germany, which is the biggest economy in Europe, declined by 0.3 per cent in the last quarter of 2023.
Further boosting sentiment, UK inflation was unchanged at 4 per cent year-on-year in January, according to ONS (consensus. 4.1 per cent).
In equity news, ABN Amro shares advanced after the Dutch bank beat fourth-quarter profit expectations on the back of high interest and credit impairment releases.
